Tuesday, February 21, 2006

from the new york times:

"Few Biologists but Many Evangelicals Sign Anti-Evolution Petition…Some said they read the Bible literally and doubt not only evolution but also findings of geology and cosmology that show the universe and the earth to be billions of years old."

So let’s get this right; they doubt scientific evidence on evolution (the vast support for the theory of evolution by the overwhelming majority of biologists), astronomy (our Sun is around five and a half billion years old), cosmology (isotropy: very strong data showing that the sky looks the same in all directions to 1 part in 100,000. The existence of the blackbody CMB – showing that the universe evolved from a dense isothermal state), and geology (the grand canyon is not 4,000 years old!)

Exactly what scientific evidence are they willing to accept? I see that as scientists, their crucial skepticism is very much alive and well, apart from when it comes to their own beliefs, no matter what is put before them. beliefs that apparently change their view of the physical world.

If scientists are going to doubt and question everything that’s put before them, as sometimes scientists necessarily must do, then why do those discovery institute scientists so readily abandon the very bedrock of science, the scientific method, when it comes to an understanding of their own religious beliefs? they talk a lot about unanswered questions in darwin’s theory of evolution. well, how about those same scientists asking any questions in regard to challenging their faith? or isn’t that allowed….?

you can't make science fit your beliefs. the greatest strength of science is that it doesn't care about ideology, however uncomfortable that might prove, to anyone, and not just scientists.